StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) Short Interest Down 18.5% in April

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,820,000 shares, a decline of 18.5% from the March 31st total of 12,050,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 5,070,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on STNE shares. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of StoneCo from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of StoneCo from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of StoneCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $12.00 to $21.00 in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of StoneCo from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of StoneCo from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $18.00 to $21.00 in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, StoneCo has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StoneCo

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in StoneCo during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in shares of StoneCo in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of StoneCo in the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 152.1% in the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 3,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 2,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tucker Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of StoneCo in the third quarter worth about $60,000. Institutional investors own 73.19% of the company’s stock.

StoneCo Stock Performance

STNE traded down $0.59 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $15.60. 3,448,532 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,166,753. The firm has a market cap of $4.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 2.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $16.50 and its 200 day moving average is $15.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. StoneCo has a one year low of $9.34 and a one year high of $19.46.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 18th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $655.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $468.47 million. StoneCo had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 11.23%. As a group, equities analysts predict that StoneCo will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About StoneCo

StoneCo Ltd. provides financial technology and software solutions to merchants and integrated partners to conduct electronic commerce across in-store, online, and mobile channels in Brazil. It distributes its solutions, principally through proprietary Stone Hubs, which offer hyper-local sales and services; and sells solutions to brick-and-mortar and digital merchants through sales team.